This is why aliens on 'super-Earth' planets may not be able to leave
New research suggests that if there are aliens out there living on “Super-Earth’ planets, they may be stuck there.
The findings submitted to the International Journal of Astrobiology propose that the gravitational pull of such large planets would make space travel very difficult.
Super-Earths can reach up to 10 times the size of our own and are theorized to be potentially "super-habitable."
But study author Michael Hippke say that on a super-earth 70% wider than Earth and 10 times larger, escape velocity for a conventional rocket would be roughly 2.4 times greater.
The weight of fuel would also be a problem as fuel is heavy, which makes rockets heavier, which requires more fuel, which makes the rocket even heavier, and the cycle continues.
Hippke says that civilizations on super-earths would probably use “lasers or radio telescopes for interstellar communication instead of sending probes or spaceships."
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